Friday, January 29, 2010

25% emissions cut achievable

MICHELLE GRATTAN AND ADAM MORTON

An analysis by not-for-profit organisation ClimateWorks Australia has found a 25 per cent cut in emissions was achievable by 2020 at ''reasonable cost without ruining the economy''.

A partnership between Monash University and the Myer Foundation, ClimateWorks found two-thirds of the 25 per cent cut could be made with a carbon price of less than $30 a tonne.

The US has formally submitted an emissions target of about a 17 per cent cut below 2005 levels by 2020 to the non-binding Copenhagen Accord. It equates to about a 4 per cent cut in emissions below 1990 levels.